[natalye]

Examiner.com was an American news website based in Denver, Colorado, that operated using a network of "pro–am contributors"' for content. It had various local editions with contributors posting city-based items tailored to 238 markets throughout the United States and parts of Canada in two putative national editions, one for each country.

I contributed to Examiner.com from July 2009 until July 2011, where I wrote two columns: one about indie music in Oakland, Calif., and one about German music. My work involved contacting PR agencies and managers and arranging and conducting interviews with musicians, promoters, and record labels. I also reviewed live performances, did concert photography, reviewed albums, and put together weekly show listings. Album Reviews

Six Organs of Admittance

Interviews

A B & the Sea

Admiral Radley

AmpLive

An Horse

Ariel Pink

Ash Reiter

Avi Buffalo

Bart Davenport

Blumentopf

BRAHMS

Cloud Nothings

D Tour

Fest van Cleef

Foals

Fotos

Foxtails Bridgade

Free Energy

Freelance Whales

Ghost and the City

Goldenboy

Goodriddler

Grand Lake

Har Mar Superstar

Herrenmagazin

Hot Chip

Hot Hot Heat

James & Evander

Jazz Mafia

John Vanderslice

MakeMe

Maximilian Hecker

Mini Pop

Miniature Tigers

Mirah

Moms

Music for Animals

No Age

Olli Schulz

Pancho-San

Papercuts

Pepper Rabbit

Pretty Lights

Rufus Wainwright

Say Hi

Sean McArdle

Shadow Shadow Shade

Shannon and the Clams

Silencio

Sir Simon Battle

Somehow at Sea

Southeast Engine

Stephin Merritt

Tegan and Sara

The Blank Tapes

The Hot Toddies

The Memorials

The Paper Queens

The Shants

The Soundtrack of Our Lives

The Super Cutes

The Vaselines

THEMES

This Will Destroy You

Tremor Low

Vanity Theft

Wallpaper.

White Rabbits

Willis Stork

Wolf Parade

YACHT

Yuck

Zion I

[natalye]

AVARI enables you to personalize in the moment with real-time predictive content in email. Marketers send one campaign with AVARI dynamic content, using any email service provider (ESP) or marketing automation, and recipients get millions of unique combinations of content that are predictively personalized for each.

I started working with AVARI in February 2015, when the former company, RetentionGrid, rebranded. I assisted the marketing team with the change by writing and editing copy for the company website, internal and external marketing documents such as email guides and white papers, and the blog. I also managed the company’s social media presence.

Blog Posts

Social Feeds for Social Proof

Guides

22 Uses for Embedded Social Feeds in Email

Content that Converts for 5 Essential Emails

White Papers

CTOR Revival 2015

[natalye]

Hubbub is a playful design consultancy, and a studio for playful products. We make things with which people can have fun, express themselves and gain a better understanding of the world. These include social platforms to facilitate creative expression, interactive systems revealing and operationalising complexity, websites and apps catering to niche interests and subcultures, and new forms of media suited to a post-digital world.

I’ve been collaborating with Hubbub since March of 2014, editing text and copy on some of their projects.

Games

Bycatch

Victory Boogie-Woogie

[natalye]

sisterMAG is the magazine for the digital lady. Our topics range from fashion, food, DIY to technology, digital trends and other lifestyle issues. sisterMAG addresses a group of women, who has been neglected by many traditional publishing houses so far. These are widely interested, well-educated, independent women who are enthusiastic about the digital world and who want to read intelligent information presented in an appealing design.

I contributed to sisterMAG in late 2015 by translating an article from German into English.

You can see the issue this translation appears in by clicking below.

Issue #22

[natalye]

RetentionGrid offers intuitive customer loyalty segmentation and lifecycle analytics with automated marketing campaigns for your e-commerce business.

I worked with RetentionGrid from June 2014 until the company rebranded in February 2015. During that time, I wrote copy for email campaigns for the app and a variety of eCommerce clients. I also created and edited internal company documents, wrote and edited blog posts, and assisted the marketing team.

Examples of my work for RetentionGrid are below.

Email Campaign Copy

Amazing Lace

EyeCandy’s

Manitobah Mukluks

OptimOZ

The Accessory Barn

[natalye]

Slow Travel Berlin was founded in January 2010 by British guidebook author, travel journalist and photographer Paul Sullivan. The aim is to establish a repository of eclectic information about the city from a range of perspectives to encourage deeper, more varied exploration and promotion of small, locally-minded businesses and services.

I began writing for Slow Travel Berlin in June 2012, contributing a handful of Q&A articles with local musicians; researching and writing a couple of more in-depth articles about Berlin music venues, contested spaces, and travel; penning weekly previews for the listings page and mailing list; and more. You can read my contributions below.

Berlin-Based

Berlin: Be Our Valentine?

Q&As

Anika

Efterklang

Gold Panda

Travel

Slow City Guide: Warsaw

Previews

10 Years of Fourtrack on Stage

25 Years of the Deutsches Historisches Museum

5 Years of Shameless/Limitless

5 Years of Thirsty & Miserable

65daysofstatic

...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

A Time to Love and a Time to Die

A Tribute to The Beastie Boys

A L’Arme! Festival

And So I Watch You From Afar

Animal Collective

Art Hack Day

Au Revoir Simone

Ausland Sommerloch Festival

Avett Brothers

Bad Religion

Balthazar

Beirut

Berlin Atonal

Berlin Independent Night

Berlin Midsommar

Berlin Music Week

Black Flag

British Shorts Film Festival (2013)

British Shorts Film Festival (2014)

Built to Spill

Carla Bruni

Chad VanGaalen

Chelsea Wolfe

Christmas Markets

CocoRosie

Conor Oberst

CTM Festival

Cut Copy

Cyberfest

David Bazan

Day of Dance

Deer Tick

Deftones

Die Fantastichen Vier

Down By The River Festival

Erased Tapes 5th Anniversary Tour

Factory Berlin

Fall Out Boy

Fat Freddy’s Drop

Feel Festival

FluxFriday

Fly BerMuDa Festival

Folk Punk Rock Festival

Forest Swords

Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls

Free Spirits Sunday

FSK

Gallon Drunk

Glenn Jones

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Hannah Cohen

Helmut

Hip Hop Open Air

Horace Andy

I Am Oak

I Heart Sharks

Iconic Finnish Design Pieces from Avarte

Interfilm Short Film Festival

Introducing in February

James Yorkston

Jeffrey Lewis

Jennifer Rostock

Joan as Policewoman

Joan of Arc

John Cage’s Europera III

Julia Stone

Kendrick Lamar

Kiez Kupala Open Air

Kimya Dawson

Krake Festival

Kurt Vile

La Luz

Laura Bean

Laura Stevenson and the Cans

Lesbian and Gay City Festival

Little Dragon

Localize Potsdam

Majical Cloudz

Mando Diao

Margaret Bourke-White

Michael Gira

Midnight in Berlin

Nada Surf

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Nils Frahm

Nite Jewel, Lucrecia Dalt, Gudrun Gut

Nordwind Festival

Of Monsters and Men

Okkervil River

Ólöf Arnalds

One Shot to be Honest

Orenda Fink

Parquet Courts

Petit A L'Arme!

Pharmakon

Phèdre

Popfest Berlin (2013)

Popfest Berlin (2014)

Puschenfest

Record Store Day

Regina Spektor

Schokoladen Hoffest (2013)

Schokoladen Hoffest (2014)

Slow Magic

Smith Westerns

Snow White

Sóley

Sondre Lerche

Stereo Total

Tangerine Dream

Temples

The Chills

The Clientele

The Hidden Cameras

The Rural Alberta Advantage

The XX

Thee Oh Sees

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra

Thurston Moore

Toro Y Moi

TRUST

Turbostaat

Ultimate Existence

Vegan & Vegetarian Summer Festival

Waajeed and Dirt Teck Rech Official Label Release Party

Washed Out

Wassermusik 2013

When Saints Go Machine

Yeasayer

Yohuna

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band

[natalye]

The State Hornet is a digital-first newspaper aimed to inform the Sacramento State community while training aspiring journalists with the set of skills needed to be employed post graduation.

I was on the staff of The State Hornet in the fall of 2007, where I worked as a news writer and copy editor. As a news writer, I wrote stories about university politics and on-campus events; covered breaking news; interviewed professors, employees, and students; and constructed engaging narratives and profiles to share with the campus community. As I copy editor, I edited the news, sports, opinion, and features sections for print and online; oversaw office and written procedures to ensure ethical considerations were given the utmost priority; and acted as a facilitator between the advisor, editors, and staff members.

You can read my articles here.

[natalye]

SISTERMAG Issue #22 Translation (German → English) for Issue #22.

[natalye]

AVARI 22 Uses for Embedded Social Feeds in Email

Co-writer and editor of a guide to using embedded social feeds in email.

[natalye]

BICEPS

Copywriting, copy editing, and translation for the Biceps app.

[natalye]

AVARI CTOR REVIVAL 2015

Co-writer and editor of a white paper about Dynamic Content 2.0 and Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR)

[natalye]

HUBBUB  Bycatch

Copy editor for the text materials (website, rules) of a sur­veil­lance-themed card game.

[natalye]

SLOW TRAVEL BERLIN The Clientele, Marie-Antoinette, 9pm

You wouldn’t be alone if you thought British band The Clientele was never coming back. After releasing 2010’s ‘Minotaur’, the indie four-piece toured through the end of the year, and then fell quiet with the announcement of an indefinite hiatus.

Early this year, The Clientele regrouped for a one-off performance in March, but that quickly evolved into a series of 10 more live performances, the final of which will be in Berlin.

In addition to the shows, the band’s debut release, a 13-track collection of singles entitled ‘Surburban Light’, was reissued on vinyl in May, as part of Merge Records’ 25th anniversary celebration. 2014 also saw the release of two new singles, which is – with any luck – a hint of things to come… a new album, perhaps?

But nothing is confirmed, so if you’re one to err on the side of caution, consider catching Alasdair Maclean and Co. when the four arrive in town this month. The after party will be hosted by the Firestation Records DJs, as if you needed any more convincing. Natalye Childress

Marie-Antoinette, Holzmartkstraße 15-18, 10179 Berlin; S + U: Jannowitzbrücke; admission €17,20.

[natalye]

SLOW TRAVEL BERLIN Mando Diao, C-Halle, 8pm

Swedish pop artists are a dime a dozen these days; since ABBA arrived on the scene in the 1970s, the country has given us a steady slew of infectious, melodic pop musicians, ranging from mainstream Ace of Base and Max Martin, all the way to indie artists Peter Bjorn and John and Lykki Li.

But while bubblegum hooks and catchy riffs abound, Swedish music also has a more straightforward rock edge, best represented by bands like Mando Diao. Formed in 1999, the group has steadily built up a following for itself, particularly in Germany. The band’s seventh album, ‘Aelita’, came out in April of this year, and is named after the Russian synthesizer which is featured across the 10 tracks.

And though it wasn’t intentional, the sound of the synth contributes an 80s electronic pop vibe, making tracks like ‘Black Saturday’ and ‘Sweet Wet Dream’ repeat in your head all day long. Natalye Childress

C-Halle, Columbiadamm 13-21, 10965 Berlin; 030 69 81 28 14; U: Platz der Luftbrücke; admission: €44,90.

[natalye]

AVARI Social Feeds for Social Proof

Anybody can do something to get your attention. But keeping it—that’s the hard part. As a business owner, you’ve probably dealt with this at some point, wondering “How can I keep my customers engaged?”

The answer: Let your customers do the talking. While celebrity endorsements and expert advice can boost your company’s image, it’s the positive social proof of other buyers that can have one of the strongest effects. When customers see how satisfied other people—people just like them—are with your product, it increases credibility, encourages adoption, and promotes acceptance. It’s the foundation for building a huge, engaged community of brand ambassadors.

At RetentionGrid, we recognize the importance of providing fresh, relevant content to your customers in a way that increases both reach and participation, resulting in higher levels of engagement. That’s why we use embedded live social feeds, which are integrated directly into your email campaigns and updated automatically.

The Advantage of Embedded Live Social Feeds

It’s likely that you’re already utilizing a variety of social media outlets, from Twitter and Facebook, to Instagram and Pinterest. But each of these platforms is a separate site, and each of your customers likely has a preference for a certain one. What’s more is that each experience tends to be isolated. In other words, a customer may post pictures of your product and see the pictures you post on Instagram, but he or she won’t see related content that other people are posting, which is cutting out a large part of the experience.

How do embedded live social feeds fix this?

Choose one or more of your channels, whether they’re the most popular ones, or simply ones that you want to boost engagement on. Each week, when RetentionGrid sends out an email campaign, a live feed will be inserted into the email. For example, zeroUV encourages users to post selfies with the product using the hashtag #zeroUV. Insert that hashtag in the embedded feed, and when a customer opens his email, the most recent selfies show up in the stream.

This does two things. First, it demonstrates just how many people are buying your products. Second, it subconsciously exerts a form of social pressure—everyone else is buying, so why aren’t you?

Creating a Real-Time Experience

The best part of this is how your social feeds combine with open-time technology to provide an up-to-date experience on subsequent opens.

Consider this: your email campaign arrives as your customer is standing in line at the grocery store. She scrolls through quickly, and comes across the live social feed. It’s interesting, but the cashier is already ringing up her items, so she puts her phone away. Later at home, she jumps on her computer and sees that email in her inbox. She opens it again and the social feed has been refreshed; instead of static content, she sees the newest addition to the stream.

This is perhaps the best way to leverage and repurpose your investment in social, while keeping your email campaigns buzzing and fresh. Don’t let your social sites sit stagnant; use embedded live social feeds to promote your brand and inject some freshness in your emails.

Contact RetentionGrid to find out how you can start sending out campaigns that give you a boost through social proof.

[natalye]

SLOW TRAVEL BERLIN Yohuna, Madame Claude, 8:30pm Just six short months ago, Johanne Swanson moved to Berlin and wasted no time getting acquainted with the local scene. Under the name Yohuna, Swanson – a native of Eau Claire, Wisconsin – has released a series of collaborations, covers, splits and singles over the past few years, and since arriving in the Hauptstadt, has played half a dozen or so local shows, including a set at August’s Torstraßen Festival.

Armed with little else but her voice, a Casio keyboard and some background tracking, Yohuna’s sound is delicate and airy, with minimal beats, haunting vocals and vulnerable lyrics. Still, it’s powerful, with lines like ‘take my eyes i didn’t know i / had them til you held them so’ – the kind of words that can take over a room with their demands. For her upcoming date at Madame Claude, Yohuna will set the tone for the night when she opens up for touring musician Katrina Stonehart. Natalye Childress 

Madame Claude, Lübbener Straße 19, 10997 Berlin; 030 84 11 08 59; U: Schlesisches Tor; admission: €1-5 sliding scale.

[natalye]

RETENTIONGRID Manitobah Mukluks

Copywriting for Manitobah Mukluks customer campaigns.